Cancer stifled a yawn, a yawn that his twin was more than happy to pick up. Gemini looked at his brother and then pointed laughing at him. Cancer pointed back and the two gave another tired laugh as the afternoon sun greeted them through the trees above.
“You’ve got a twig in your hair Gem,” Cancer plucked it out and flicked it away.
“Whatever. I’m not used to sleeping outside,” he sat up slowly and stretched his arms over his head. The pair of them were waking up from their nap on a stone building. It wasn’t the most comfortable place they’d ever napped but the warm air and quiet nature mixed with the long ride over they both needed it.
“It’s just like camping,” Pisces said hopping onto the roof. From the look on his face, he had been awake for some time. “We used to camp all the time in Zodiac forest remember?”
Pisces came to sit between his sons handing both of them small cups of hot tea. Gemini blew on him, while Cancer immediately sipped from his own. “I remember,” Gemini said then sipped the tea.
“Yeah but we’ve never camped here before,” Cancer said as he turned around slowly.
Almost two weeks ago Leo called for a meeting of the zodiac. She told everyone about her dream and the attack. They argued back and forth over what it meant and who the woman who attacked her was. But they all agreed that they needed to do more than just sit around. They had to talk to the source.
They had to talk to their mothers.
Hidden away in the depths of Zodiac Forest was this place. Though the forest wasn’t that large somewhere in the middle of their journey it was like they stepped into another world. The trees suddenly got much larger, the air warmer, and at the heart of this new forest was the temple.
A building made of stone spires, winding streets, and overgrown vegetation. There were buildings that looked like homes surrounding the area but all paths led back to the temple. More specifically they led to the courtyard in the center of it. It was almost like at one point it was like people lived here. But now they were long gone.
Despite having traveled deep into the forest the temple felt like it was out in an open field. The breeze from the wind was constant, the air was clear, and the sun above their heads was warm. It was hard to believe that anything about this place was real.
Sharing the tea between the three of them Pisces stared at the sky as he enjoyed the air. “What kind of tea is this?” Cancer asked. “Doesn’t taste like any I’ve had back home.”
“It’s an herbal one from Xye. I picked it up in Orrin and snuck a few packets into our bags when we left.”
“I like it. It’s relaxing.”
Pisces glanced at his sons and his smile turned to a small frown. “You two feeling okay?”
“Yeah why wouldn’t we?” Gemini asked.
“Just making sure. A lot’s going on right now and a lot of it is new and strange. Even a little scary. I want to make sure you two are okay.”
Gemini glanced down into the tea and nodded. “I don’t know who that person was that attacked you and mom and it freaks me out a bit.”
“Me too.” Cancer added.
“But we can help. And we get to meet Them. And that’s really cool.”
Pisces laughed softly, “You sound like Virgo. Excited to meet our ‘Mothers’.”
“We’ve never done it before,” Gemini sipped on his tea again. “It’s exciting.”
“That’s one way to look at it Gem. Making something good from the situation,” Pisces said resting a hand on his head. “What about you Cancer?”
“Me?”
“Yes you,” he turned to face his other son who avoided his gaze.
“I. I just want everyone to be safe. And I hope Alpha and Omega know what’s going on. So. I don’t know. I guess I’m feeling anxious.”
“That makes sense. I feel the same way,” Pisces closed his eyes. “But when we eventually do talk to Them it’ll be all of us together. It’s the first time all twelve of us have gone there together.”
“What?” Cancer looked at him.
Pisces nodded and gave him a small smile, “We were more focused on raising the next generation. And Mom understood. Sorry. It has to be strange to have another mom beyond Leo.”
“Kinda. I mean. In the books the past us always talked about Her in ways like that. But it never felt right to me. But I mean.” Gemini made a face as he searched for the words.
But Cancer shook his head, “I have one mom. And it’s mom.” He looked down staring at his pendent, the crab looking back at him. As he stared, he saw his face and he swore he could see his own eyes darken in a way that scared him. Shutting his eyes tightly he shook his head. Pisces squeezed his shoulder and Cancer looked at him for a long moment then lowered his head. “Thanks dad.”
Pisces smiled down at his son and sighed, “Maybe when we go back home, we can practice with the chakrams again. You were getting a little too good last I checked.”
That made him grin, “Maybe I’ll make them the new weapon for Cancers going forward.”
“Trying to put me out of a job now?” He said and shared a laugh with him.
The three of them sat together quietly for a while longer when Capricorn showed up. And by show up he descended from the air on a massive sonic boom that rustled the trees and startled the birds in said trees. He skidded across the ground staring up at them and waved.
“Hey kids! Hey fish!”
“Hey Cap,” Pisces replied chuckling.
“Uncle!” Cancer waved.
“Uncle Capricorn!” Gemini slid forward, separated into his two halves using one another as leverage so when they landed they merged together and stood confidently. He held his fist out and Capricorn fist bumped him.
“You guys really took a nap?” Capricorn asked.
“Yeah. Nothing for us to do to help anyway,” Cancer climbed down and then hopped down the last few steps. “Speaking of. Has Virgo gotten a chance to communicate with Them. Or whatever weird spiritual connection magic she was doing with Libra?”
Capricorn nodded, “Pretty sure. Libra told me and Aries to gather everyone up and I figured you all would be out here.”
“Figured right Cap,” Pisces stacked the two now empty mugs on top of each other.
The four of them gathered and walked back to the temple proper. Something that this temple had that they didn’t at home were the amount of animals roaming around. The birds that soared around cawing and singing to one another, the roving gangs of monkeys that swung around and watched them. There were even bigger creatures that growled from the darkness of the forest.
Walking up the mossy steps of the temple they went through the open archway. The chamber was enclosed by a massive dome with light streaming in from the many holes in the architecture over time. Vines crawled the sides of the walls looping in from the outside and reaching for the light. Meanwhile, the ground was covered in leaves that Taurus and Aries were currently sweeping away. The other Zodiac were scattered around the grounds.
The temple was almost entirely empty except for a statue in the center. It was hand carved granite, each detail carefully chiseled to mirror the resemblance of the goddess Alpha. But behind her was the twin figure of Omega. At least they assumed that that was what she looked like.
Leo stood in front of Omega’s statue and folded her arms, her mouth in a thin line. Virgo walked toward her, more than a foot shorter but smiled at her brightly. Leo glanced at her and her expression made Virgo frown, “What is it Leo?”
She blinked, “What?”
Aquarius smiled touching her back lightly. “You’re making a face. A pretty sour one. Is something wrong?”
Leo smiled and shook her head, “No. Just looking at our other mother. The one I’ve never met.”
“That none of us have met,” Taurus said. “It is hard to believe that we have another.”
“The scripture talks about Omega. But there are books. Old books that really talk about Omega,” Libra said. “She’s called the dark mirror of Alpha but that’s not right. She and Alpha are two sides of the same coin. Kinda like Gem.”
Gemini looked up at mention of his name, “That’s what I read a lot of the time. Most Geminis were close to Them. Kind of. I only found a few entries about the few times they met Them. Talked to Them. They read like dreams.”
“Meeting Mom definitely felt like a dream,” Leo said.
“It is a surreal experience to be sure,” Capricorn wandered over and looked at the statues this time hanging around in front of Alpha. “So how does it work? Do we just gather round and pray?”
“No goat,” Aries said walking past him and hitting him on the head with the broom. Setting it down against the wall along with Sagittarius he looked at Libra. “Please tell me that’s not actually how this is going to work.”
“Well I’m not sure how it works to be honest. In a proper temple to Alpha we would pray and hope that She reaches out to us. Or at least answers the prayer.”
“But this is a temple to Alpha and Omega,” Scorpio said. “Does that make things different?”
“It’s more than a temple to them Stingie. It’s a temple to all of us. Repent Virgo.” Virgo’s eyes glowed and she swung her arms around. Her telekinesis took hold, the energy that empowered her flowing through the temple. It traced across the floor and one by one symbols began to illuminate on the ground. Where the light for them came from none of them knew but just seeing them brought a strange comfort.
Gemini stepped forward going toward one of them and pointed. “Oh! Dad!”
Pisces looked at it and nodded, “I recognize that one. From one of your books Gem.”
“Yeah. It’s us.” The twin nodded slowly walking toward it. He reached out and motioned toward Cancer. “Come here.” He pointed to the symbol on the floor that was like a fancy, half completed oval. “Stand here.”
Cancer looked at him like he was weird but did as he asked standing over the glowing symbol. The moment he did not only did the symbol glow but so did his own eyes. Power washed over him, power that he’d never felt before. It even made his pendent glow like a constellation of stars. His own shock was mirrored on his brother’s face. “What is this?”
“No idea.”
“It’s us,” Virgo walked to stand on a symbol a space away and her pendant glowed, creating an array of stars around her as well. “Come on everyone. We have our spots.”
“I can help,” Gemini said eagerly.
“Me too,” Libra replied and started moving around the open area. She motioned and pointed toward each of them one by one.
Leo stood between Cancer and Virgo. Aquarius stood opposite her with Pisces on her right and Capricorn on her left. Aries and Taurus stood to the right of Pisces while Libra and Scorpio stood to the side of Virgo. As they walked and filled in the circles their pendants continued to glow creating an invertible sky of stars in the temple.
Finally, Sagittarius and Gemini took their position opposite one another finishing the circle. The glow that emanated from their pendants suddenly appeared on the eyes of both the statues of Alpha and Omega. The light was bright, brighter than their own glow. It bathed each of them in white light and they almost stumbled backward out of their symbols.
When the light finally died down, they all gasped. They saw the white realm around them and the floating geometric shapes. They felt the ripples under their feet as they moved and saw the symbols on the ground moving in time with them. They looked around, eyes wide as a familiar feeling settled over them, except for the four youngest who were looking around beyond shocked.
And in the middle of them stepping forward to stand side by side rather than back to back were Alpha and Omega.
Omega put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrow while Alpha covered her mouth. “Oh my.”
“An unruly bunch you twelve are,” Omega said.
“They take after you sister.”
“I know and I adore them for it.”
“You’re really them. Her and Her,” Virgo’s eyes were the size of saucers as she looked at them both. She looked toward Scorpio immediately and her smile was infectious. Scorpio tried to hide her returning smile and looked at them. Looking at them felt like when she spoke to Morrigan. Something felt right.
“You’re Omega,” Aries said softly and lowered his head almost immediately. “Its. A pleasure to meet you.”
“Oh please Aries I’m your mother. You don’t need to be so formal,” she said dismissively. “You’ve always been so serious. Ever since the first.”
He took a step back a flash of red on his cheeks and Omega broke into a fit of laughter. Meanwhile Alpha glared at her, “You shouldn’t tease our son.”
“I think of anyone we can tease our children.”
“Just because we can doesn’t mean we should though.”
“Oh lighten up sister. You’re likely the reason he is the way he is.”
As they listened to the pair of them bicker none of the assembled knew what to do or say. It was strange enough being face to face with not one but two goddesses at once. And now they were watching the two of them behave like any of them.
“Where is this place?” Aquarius asked. “Traveling here felt like going into a different location entirely. Almost like when we travel here.”
“That’s because it is,” Alpha said motioning to the space and slowly the white around them molded and became a version of the temple that they started with, down to their symbols on the ground. “This temple was built in honor of myself and Omega as well as our children. It is both separate and apart from Nerodala and this place. Though it was not meant to be a place of worship, it was meant to be a sanctuary for you all. Unfortunately, time is an enemy that not many can conquer.”
“Hey mom,” Leo said leaning on her back foot and deciding to make things productive. “Feels like we just talked.”
“We did Leo. And I believe the danger that I warned you of is real.”
“Real and powerful,” she shook her hand out. “But the woman that I fought. Something about her said she was the beginning.”
“What was the woman like?” Omega asked brusquely. “How did she act? How did she fight? What did she say? Details daughter.”
This took Leo off guard. She was used to the usually soft spoken kind Alpha. This shift with Omega was very different despite the similar voices of the two goddesses.
“She fought like an animal. In fact, she looked like one,” Pisces said not missing a beat. “But when we started to overpower her, a mask formed on her face that seemed to be made of oil. And her voice changed to match. And suddenly it was like she was a different person. She could match Leo’s strength blow for blow and break out of my control.”
Omega’s face behind her veil grew grim and she looked at her twins who were equally grim. “I didn’t think he’d be bold enough to attack them here.”
“Nor powerful enough to send someone to equal them.” Alpha shook her head. “What kind of being could that have been.”
“A daemon most likely.”
“No simple daemon could challenge one of our children,” Alpha frowned. “But what if it weren’t a simple daemon.”
“What do you suggest?”
“I don’t know. But Pisces suggests that woman is more than meets the eye.”
“Is anyone else here lost?” Capricorn asked raising his hand. Gemini raised his hand hesitantly and Sagittarius joined him. “Okay not just me.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. We are just discussing the many possibilities of what this could be,” Alpha frowned. “But.”
“There’s no need to keep things from them. We already told the previous Gemini. We might as well tell them all.”
“Wait the previous me?” Gemini asked.
“You and your brother,” Omega looked at Cancer whose eyes widened at the sudden attention. “The previous Cancer met a man named Daze. That man filled his mind with knowledge beyond him. Influenced him to choose the path he chose. Ultimately it was Cancer’s choice but the seeds that Daze planted were intentional.”
Alpha picked up the narrative, “Daze is a man who comes from Arkoria, more specifically the Sanctum. A place a few of you may be familiar.” She gave a knowing look to the four of them and smiled before continuing. “Daze and his brother were wronged by the then Speaker and ultimately the father of the Sanctum. After being exiled he swore vengeance against them. And now after many long years and a previous failed attempt Daze is very confident in his ability to enact his vengeance.”
“What does a conflict in another country have to do with us?” Sagittarius asked. “We’ve had some communication with Arkoria but very little overall. Why would Daze have his eyes set on Nerodala or us, the Zodiac.”
“Daze was talented beyond belief in magic. And beyond that he was very smart. Through his own studies and ignoring the risks, Daze found a way to manipulate and travel through time.”
“Time travel?” Gemini said his eyes wide.
“That sounds hard to believe,” Taurus said. “Even when you are the ones to inform us.”
“It’s a farfetched thing to believe a mortal could do it let alone survive it. But Daze has been nothing but surprises since his birth. Sehren as well.”
“You’re not answering the real question,” Leo said folding her arms tightly. “What does he want?”
“Your souls,” Omega said matter o factly.
“Our what?” Scorpio asked sharply.
“To get his revenge on the Father of the Sanctum Daze seeks godhood. And amongst many other things, he needs powerful souls. And what’s more powerful in this mortal plane than those of our direct children?” Omega said looking at each of them.
“So this man wants to become a God. And to do so he wants to take the souls of us,” Capricorn brushed his hands through his hair slowly. “And here I thought Cancer was crazy. No offense nephew.”
Cancer shook his head trying to get his bearings. He looked at his brother and he looked equally as startled and suddenly exhausted. Cancer finally asked almost angrily, “Can’t either of you do something?”
Alpha stared and gave him a small smile, “Though we may be the goddesses that created this world. The power we wield is a fraction of what it once was. We can simply watch and maintain the balance of life and death. No longer do we have the power to directly interfere outside of aiding you all.”
“What can we do to stop him?” Aquarius asked.
“Stand together as twelve,” Alpha told them. “You have other allies that are working against Daze but very soon Daze is going to throw the full brunt of his power against you all. You need to be ready to fight as the twelve of you all. Together nothing in this world is stronger.”
“I guess that’s reassuring,” Capricorn mumbled.
“It is a statement of fact son,” Omega said and he tried to look away under her gaze which made her chuckle again. She started to say more but paused as the expanse above their heads began to ripple. The white and black of everything disappeared for a second and in its place, they saw the temple again but the sky outside had darkened to nearly black.
“Well that’s unfortunate.” Omega mumbled.
“What’s going on?” Aries asked his eyes narrowing quickly.
“It was afternoon at best when we came here right?” Gemini asked.
“Just about,” Sagittarius looked toward their mothers. “Has that much time passed or is something wrong?”
“Something is wrong,” Alpha said quickly and looked toward Omega. “They’re here.”
“They?” Leo asked and then her eyes narrowed. “You mean Daze?”
“Astute daughter.” Omega nodded. “He has found this location and he’s coming for you.”
“We don’t have our weapons,” Scorpio said. “If they are as dangerous as you’ve suggested we are defenseless here.
“Is there nothing we can do?” Taurus asked.
“Do not be so quick to right off your chances son,” Omega turned around as the area flickered again showing the darkness behind them. But the symbols below their feet started to glow along with their pendants. The pendants floated up from around their necks, hovering in front of them. The pendants began to melt and morph in front of them until they became their diamond edged black blade weapons.
Leo’s eyes widened as she stared at the sword that had been her companion for a very long time. A weapon that tied her to the Leos of generations past. She touched the hilt of the weapon and knew it to be her own. The very one she’d left behind at the castle. “How is this possible?”
“Your weapons and your pendants are more than just trinkets of your history,” Omega smirked. “They are a part of you. Your pendants serve as a conduit to allow you call them to your side whenever you need them. And now seems to be a pretty big time of need.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Capricorn slid his gauntlets and boots on. “Thanks Mom.”
Omega smiled and looked back toward Alpha, “I see what you mean. It is pleasant when they call us that.”
“I told you sister.” Alpha turned to look at the Zodiac one by one clasping her hands in front of her. “The danger awaiting you is something that we do not know the extent of. But we are confident you can handle it. Be careful and look after one another.”
“And remember. We both are looking after you all.”
They each nodded slowly as the light beneath their feet began to glow. And then just as quickly as they were brought there, they were sent back to the temple. The goddesses looked at one another and neither made a show of hiding their worry from one another.
The Harlequin Library 